Il Destino [part 1]
Title: Il Destino
Author: pyroblaze18
Pairings: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles, Steve Carlson/Christian Kane, Jensen Ackles/Danneel Harris, Steve Carlson/Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Jensen Ackles/Chad Michael Murray?
Rating: PG
Summary: Jensen has one chance to find his soulmate, and he’s going for it… even if he has to leave his fiancée and head for Italy to find him.
Word Count: 15,750 words overall
Author’s Notes: Many months ago, I signed up for the challenge at abouttwoboys. The story got away from me, so I thought it could become by fic for spn_j2_bigbang. That was not to be, and now it is my fic for the Summer Love Songs challenge at j2au. My song prompt was “I’m Yours,” by Jason Mraz. Based on the film, “Only You.” Betaed by shotofjack, and translations provided by titheniel (and handholding by many of you) - any mistakes remaining are my own.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“C’mon you guys, this is a waste of time. Let’s just go watch a movie or something. There’s always something on tv on a Friday night.” Two sets of eyes turned to glare at him at the same time in shock and horror. The silence lasted until the young girl finally spoke up first.
“No! It’s my turn to choose what we do, and I chose this! Now just hurry up and ask a question, Jensen, so it can be my turn!” Jensen turned to Chris hoping for an ally, but only received a smirk in response.
“You believe in all this mystical crap, Jensen. You can’t tell me you aren’t interested, man,” Chris pointed out. “Plus, everything’s already set up, the lights are off, the candles all lit. We might as well just play along.”
“Okay first of all? I believe in fate, not ouija boards,” Jensen responded. “And Chris, the only reason you’re agreeing to this is because Mac’s first idea of a fun thing to do involved painting your nails and braiding your hair. You know we don’t have to go along with this.”
“What? You mean you’re not going to help me find out whether I am destined to make a lot of money after we graduate from college? Besides, what else would we do, we can’t leave, since we’re babysitting Mackenzie here, and we sure as hell can’t take her anywhere.”
Mackenzie looked at the two boys in frustration. “You guys! It’s not my fault I got the stupid chicken pox over vacation! It’s not like I wanted this,” she whined, “It hurts so much!” Jensen and Chris looked over at her, at the pink splotches of calamine lotion covering bright red spots all over her skin, and the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Jensen sighed and pulled the board back towards him again. “Fine, Mac. What question do you want me to ask?”
“Who’s the person you’re meant to spend your life with? Who’s your soulmate?”
Jensen sighed as Chris bit back a laugh at the girly question. “Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”
“Yes, and just so that you don’t cheat to get it over with, Chris will move the piece after you ask the question.”
Jensen knew that if his sister hadn’t played the sick card, he never would have agreed to this in the first place, and was therefore stuck playing this twisted little game. “Fine. Oh great spirits, who is my soulmate, the one I am supposed to spend my life with?” Although he acted bored as he spoke, the truth was, he was a little nervous. He didn’t know what was going to turn up, and he just really hoped that this wasn’t going to be the big event that outed him to his sister and friend. And he hoped that she didn’t think he was weird if she did find out, which in his eyes, could be worse than any attempte at gays ex advice from Chris.
As Jensen continued to mentally calm himself down, Chris began calling out letters, which Mac wrote down on a notepad. When he finally stopped, all three of them looked at the paper. There was absolute silence, until Mac whispered, “Isn’t that a boy’s name? Did we do something wrong?”
“A guy, huh? Well that’s pretty kinky, Jensen. You been hiding something from us?” was Chris’s only response.
“What? No! It’s just a stupid game. It’s not like it means anything. Although if it did, it’s not like it’s a big deal or anything, because guys can like other guys.”
“Yes they can. It’s one of the many miracles of life.”
“Shut up.”
“Is it my turn yet?” Mac piped up.
They’d been wandering around the carnival for an hour already, and Steve and Jensen had barely managed to successfully avoid Mackenzie, her friends, and their never-ending quest for more stuffed animals. But they had to admit, wandering around by themselves was starting to get really boring, until they reached the old fortune-teller’s stall right by the ferris wheel.
“Let’s go in,” Steve said, “It’ll give us another place to hide from your sister for a while, and at least I can sit down while I’m in there. Running around and hiding is seriously wearing me out. You realize she has her friends staked out at every major food vendor here? I can’t even get funnel cakes, let alone a soda or sno-cone or anything else of substance.”
Jensen sighed and headed into the fortune teller’s tent, with Steve following closely behind him. Inside, the entire tent was decorated as if it were something out of a movie, with candles lighting the center table that held a decently sized crystal ball. The fortune teller, seemed to have styled herself as a gypsy from a movie too, draping herself in multicolored shawls and numerous necklaces.
The two boys plopped down in front of her. She took one look at them before asking, “It is your destiny that you seek, yes?”
“Well actually,” Steve began, “We don’t really care-”
“We’re here to find out what you can tell us,” Jensen said, cutting off his friend. “But, don’t tell us anything bad okay? Just good stuff. We aren’t really looking for any downers or anything you know?”
“C’mon Jensen, I thought you gave up on all this destiny crap after the ouija board incident that you told me about.”
“So it is your soulmate that you are after? I think I see something. It’s a name. A respectable name. Mark? No. Matthew? No. Michael! The name is Michael. No, that’s not quite it either,” she said, muttering to herself as she stared into the crystal ball rotating her hands around it. “I’m seeing more to the name than this. Wait! I think it’s coming clear now. Murray. Chad Michael Murray is the name.”
Steve turned to look at Jensen in surprise. Jensen was just staring back at the fortune teller in shock, not quite believing what he had just heard.
“Jensen? Wasn’t that the name you got on the ouija board?”
“Yeah.”
“So do you think?”
“Yeah. Holy crap!” Jensen got up to leave, but the fortuneteller quickly grabbed his hand before he could get very far.
“Listen kid, the truth is, you make your own destiny. Don’t wait for it to come to you. Remember that.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure I will.” Jensen tried to leave again but the fortuneteller tightened her grip on his arm.
“Your destiny’s still two bucks, kid.” Jensen quickly tossed her the money before dragging Steve out of the tent.
“What the hell do you make of that?” he asked his friend.
“I have no idea, but I think we’re in trouble,” Steve replied. He pointed to a group of girls a few feet away from them, giggling and carrying on. Jensen turned and saw his sister and her friends approaching them, cornering the two of them between the fortune teller’s tent and the ferris wheel. Just as they were about to be dragged off by the girls, a voice from above yelled, “Bomb’s away!!!”
*SPLASH*
The girls began shrieking and scattering as the water balloons began to soak them. Jensen and Steve looked up at the ferris wheel, and saw Chris throwing the balloons with reckless glee.
“You’re such a friggin’ jerk, Chris!”
“Whatever, man. Saved your asses.”
Twelve Years Later
“So what exactly is destiny?” Chris asked, while idly strumming his guitar.
Jensen barely glanced up at him from where he was working, checking over the song list for the band's new upcoming album. “Are you kidding me? You, the magnificent, all-supreme, master songwriter, are asking me about destiny? You're the one who writes all those sappy ballads, man, not me. Besides, the last time I answered that question, you went and told Joanna about how I believed in soulmates and true love, and she broke up with me right after that. I am not helping you with this.”
“You're no fun! You could at least give me the speech about how like is attracted to like again. I need some inspiration for our next ballad”
“Fine. How about this tidbit? When you meet your soulmate, you're reunited with your other half. You become whole again.”
Chris put down his guitar and turned to Jensen. “And you really believe that?”
“Yeah, I really do,” Jensen said, carefully putting away his work. Ever since he officially assumed most of the business work for Chris and Steve's band, he had gotten pretty good multitasking. Chris was never able to remain quiet if someone else was around, and Jensen secretly believed that his friend liked to have all of his conversations about love when Steve wasn't around to witness them. Either way, between each one of them talking about their other jobs, and Chris and Steve writing songs, it was never really quiet around either of the apartments, especially not Jensen’s.
“Then why are you still with Danni? You can't honestly believe that she's your one and only. You two have absolutely nothing in common! If you honestly believe in true love, don't settle for anything less.”
“I'm not settling. I decided years ago to leave it up to fate. I love being with her, Chris. We'll be happy together. And maybe someday, I'll realize that I've been with my soulmate all along.”
Any further response from Chris was cut off when the door to Jensen's apartment was opened. Steve walked in, carrying his guitar and take-out dinner for the three of them. He dumped the food on the coffee table, laid his guitar on the couch, and leaned down to give Chris a kiss, before waving a hello to Jensen.
“Hey baby, long day?” Chris asked him, as he began to dig through the food to see what he deemed edible.
“Yeah, not a fun day at all,” Steve said, sitting on the couch behind Chris. “I don't think I've gotten enough sleep in months. And don't eat all the food Chris, I'm not eating until Jensen tells us what his big news is.”
“Oh yeah, I've been trying to get him to tell me for the past few hours, but he said he didn't want to have to say it twice. I told he wouldn't have to, that I would tell you for him, but he didn't seem to like that plan all that much.”
“I wonder why. Jensen,” Steve called over his shoulder, “Get over here and tell us your news so that I can eat. I'm starving!”
“Bitch, bitch, bitch!” Jensen whined mockingly, finally coming to sit on the other couch next to the coffee table. “Alright. So, Danneel proposed last night.” He propped his feet up on the table and waited for the news to register.
“WHAT?!?!?!?” Steve nearly fell off of the couch in shock, while Chris slowly eased himself up onto the couch where he could be in shock more comfortably. “She proposed to you? And you're only telling us now?”
“Well it’s not really official yet. She said she wanted to ask me, because she didn’t want to wait until I got the nerve to ask her, since I’m sure you remember how long it took me to ask her out in the first place. Anyway, I told her that I didn’t think we should rush into anything. I mean, I don’t ever want to get divorced, so I just needed some time to think it through. You know, so that I’m one hundred percent sure.”
He looked up and saw his friends’ stunned looks and quickly continued, “I’m just telling you what I told her.” Chris and Steve continued to look somewhat horrified and terrified at the same time. “Oh c’mon you guys, I already told my parents that I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations!” Steve said, getting up to give him a hug.
“Congratulations! Now I really do need to work on writing another love song inspired by life. What do you think, Steve? Should I base it on our epic love story? I’m sure all of our female fans would just love to hear that! I think the best songs come out of experience.”
“Those songs don’t come from experience. They come from someone’s imagination. They’re too perfect to be real.” Chris laughed and dug back into his food, but Jensen looked at Steve in concern. Steve just gave him a sad smile before he turned to the bag of food on the table in front of him.
Steve was greeted with, “This is driving me crazy! I can’t take this shit anymore!” when he arrived at Jensen’s apartment a few weeks later.
“Smiling for the endless number of photographs that Danni’s uncle took was painful. I mean every time he came near she’d remind me, ‘Look happy, Jensen, he’s taking more pictures of us, and we have to look like we’re the perfect couple in love.’ This is worse than that. I must have three hundred goddamned wedding guests to write place cards for, because Danni says it’s more personal if they are handwritten for the reception. And because she wants to have the perfect wedding to end the summer, I have to bribe Mackenzie to help me out later in painting summery designs on each and every one. Do you have any idea how much I’m going to owe my little sister for that?!?!!?”
Steve stared at his stressed out friend in amusement. “Well, that’s what you get for marrying a public relations rep. Her entire career focuses on interpersonal interactions- of course she wants to make a good impression on everyone. And you wanted the summer wedding too, remember? It was the only time Mac could get away from her college for more than a weekend, and Chris and I aren’t touring, and plus this was the only way that you guys could go to Danni’s timeshare in Hawaii for your honeymoon.”
“Yeah, I know, I really do want to have the summer wedding and I get that Danni wants to make a good impression, but it’s not just that. The phone’s been ringing nonstop, because she’s having her phone calls forwarded here while she’s in her meetings today. I’ve been talking to strangers all day, and all of them seem to know way more about me than I ever want to know about them. It’s just weirding me out I guess. I feel like there’s something off, but I just don’t know what it is.”
“You getting cold feet already?” Steve asked in surprise, “Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound so freaked out before.”
“It’s not cold feet. I just… I feel like I’m missing something right in front of me.” The phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Jensen sighed, but got up to answer the phone anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Sorry, is this the phone number for Danneel Harris?” the voice on the other end said cautiously.
“Yes it is. I’m her fiancee Jensen. She’s in a meeting all day, and she’s having her calls forwarded to my place.”
“Oh okay, congratulations. I’m a friend of Danni’s from high school. I was actually calling to tell Danni that I can’t make it to the wedding. I’m actually going to be out of the country on business; in fact I’m actually leaving in about an hour, so I had wanted to let her know before I left.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. Let me just write your name down so I can give her the message.”
“Thanks, my name’s-” His name was too hard to identify with all of the noise from the airport.
“I can hardly hear you. Can you spell it out for me?”
“C-H-A-D-M-I-C-H-A-E-L-M-U-R-R-A-Y.”
“Ok,” Jensen said, “Let me just make sure I got it right.” He looked at the name and promptly dropped the phone in shock.
“Jensen, what’s wrong?” Steve asked hurriedly when he heard the phone crash.
“Hello?” said the person on the other line, “Hello?”
Jensen quickly grabbed the phone again. “Chad Michael Murray?” he said, nodding at Steve’s startled recognition.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m leaving for Venice. And they’ve actually just started boarding for my flight, so I have to go. Say hi to Danni, and I’m sorry I can’t make it to your wedding.” Before Jensen could get another word in, Chad hung up, leaving Jensen staring at the phone.
“He hung up. He hung up!” Jensen said somewhat frantically.
“Jen calm down. It’s okay, if he called you once, he’ll call you back.”
“No. No, I’m not waiting for that.” Jensen quickly grabbed his phone, wallet, keys and a jacket on his way to the door.
“Jensen, where are you going?”
“The airport. Call a cab!” Jensen said, running out the door.
Steve dashed to the other side of the apartment and leaned out of the window. When Jensen reappeared outside, he yelled out to him, “Jen, it’s just a coincidence!”
“You don’t understand,” the other man shouted back loudly enough for the whole block to hear, “It’s not a coincidence, it’s FATE!”
Jensen jumped into a cab and he was off, chasing his destiny.
The trip to the airport seemed like the longest car ride of his life. Jensen was out the door before the cab had even stopped, tossing money at the driver in his haste. He checked the departure screen and saw the only plane heading to Venice was an American Airlines flight that stopped in New York. He ran over to the ticket counter to buy a seat on the plane, but was told that the flight was about to leave.
“I need to be on that plane. You don’t understand! My life depends on getting on that plane!”
“I’m sorry sir, but the plane has already begun to taxi down the runway. It’s too late.”
Jensen just stared at the man bleakly, before whispering brokenly, “The man I was supposed to marry is on that plane…” He took a deep breath, looked back up at the man helping him, and asked, “When’s the next flight to Venice?”
As soon as he had his ticket, Jensen called Steve to pack his bags for him. “Steve, if I don’t get on that flight I’m going to regret it. Not just today, but tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. I have to do this. So please just bring me my stuff. What? Oh! My passport’s in the top drawer of my desk. Pack some formal clothes, casual clothes, and warm weather stuff. Just hurry, Steve!”
Steve got there soon after, with not only Jensen’s suitcase and carry-on, but his own bags as well. “I’m coming with you. There’s no way I’m letting you run around another country searching for your mystery man alone. That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.”
“You’re okay just leaving with me like this? I mean what did Chris say when you told him?” Steve stopped and just gave him a look.
“Do you really think I was going to tell him the truth? He’d run over here, hit us over the head and drag us back home. I told Chris I was visiting my parents for a few days. What did Danneel say when you told her?”
“Good point. She told me to have fun at the music industry conference. So, um, let’s go to Italy!”
Nearly thirty-six hours later, Jensen and Steve were on the road, somewhere between Venice and their new destination of Rome. After finding out that not only had they missed Chad in Venice, but that with the current exchange rate a train, bus, or taxi ride would have cost a small fortune, they rented a car and headed for Rome where Chad had gone. They were exhausted from driving, so they took a break to eat lunch on a hill along the way.
“I’m scared. I’m scared I’m losing him, and I’m never going to find out if he’s the one,” Jensen said as he stared out into the countryside.
“Even if he is the one, there’s never really any guarantee that you’ll be together forever.” Steve said morosely, taking a gulp out of the wine bottle they had picked up.
“What’s wrong, Steve? You’ve been down for weeks, but Chris seems fine, so I’m a bit confused. What’s going on between the two of you?”
“I didn’t tell him I was visiting my parents. I told him I was leaving him,” Steve whispered. “I think he’s having an affair.”
“What?” Jensen reached over and wrapped Steve in a hug. “Did you see him with someone?”
“No, I didn’t. I just know. Things have been very different between us lately. He always comes home late, and just hops in the shower before crashing for the night.”
“He’s probably just working late. You know how exhausting it is being on tour, acting is just as draining. I don’t think he’d cheat on you. Chris loves you.” Steve leaned over and put his head on Jensen’s lap. “I remember when I realized that Chris was in love with you. It was his senior year of high school, and the head cheerleader came and asked him to go to prom with her. He told her he already had a date, grabbed your hand and walked away. That’s when I knew.” he said, as he soothingly ran his fingers through Steve’s hair.
“Well that was a long time ago. Things change.”
“Not his feelings for you. I know he loves you. He always will.”
Danneel had been extremely busy since Jensen had left for his conference. Without him to go home to, she had been working extra long hours and throwing herself into the wedding plans. So when Chris stopped by her apartment, it came as a great surprise. “Hey Danneel, do you know where Jensen is?”
“Yeah, he’s at a conference in New York, why?”
“Do you know if Steve’s with him?”
“I don’t think so, but he didn’t really say anything about it. Why, what’s wrong?”
“Steve left me. He left a note saying he’s leaving, and to pick up the dry cleaning, but there was no explanation. I mean, he’s been acting weird for a while now, but I just don’t understand how he could do this.”
“I hate to ask you this, but do you think he’s cheating on you?”
“No way! Steve would never cheat on me. There has to be some other reason.”
“Well have you cheated on him?”
“No! How can you even ask me that?”
“So who are we looking for?”
“Someone named Alona. She works at a clothing store that our cab driver apparently knows of. According to the guy in Venice, she knows Chad. I just hope she speaks some English, or else we’re screwed.”
“I just hope we’re on the right track, because I just want to get a hotel room and sleep for a few hours. Or days, really. I’m so tired that I can’t really think of anything else anymore.”
The two men got dropped off at a high end clothing store for men and women, and went in to try and find Alona. When they went in, they were greeted by a man who spoke both Italian and English, who pointed them towards the men’s department where she was working. At the cologne counter, a young woman greeted them, and when asked if she too could speak English, she nodded.
“Hi,” Steve said, “We’re looking for someone who works here. Her name is Alona Tal, and we think she may be able to help us with something.”
“I am Alona,” the salesperson said with a smile. “How can I help you?”
“Hi,” Jensen said quickly, “We’re looking for someone, and we’ve been told that you know him.” At her confused look, he continued, “His name is Chad Michael Murray.”
Alona blinked and looked from one man to the other. “Chad. Michael. Murray.” When they both nodded, she started to speak rapidly in Italian, startling the two Americans. Steve pulled out an Italian-English dictionary and attempted to follow what she was saying, but after coming to the conclusion that she probably wasn’t talking about pigs in shoes, which was his translation, he quickly admitted defeat. Meanwhile Jensen was trying to get her to calm down by repeating that they had no idea what she was saying.
Just then, a handsome gentleman came towards them, speaking in Italian to Alona. She stopped talking briefly, and the man turned to Jensen and Steve. “Hello, may I be of assistance?” he asked.
Twin looks of relief crossed their faces as they said, “Yes.”
He laughed at them and said, “So you’re American then too. My name is Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I’m the owner of this store. What seems to be the problem here?”
“Well,” said Steve, “I’m Steve, and this is Jensen. We’re looking for someone named Chad Michael Murray, and we were told that Alona knows him, and judging by her sudden reaction, I’d have to say we were correct in that assumption.”
Jeffrey turned to Alona and began to talk to her in Italian. Jensen elbowed Steve in the side and whispered, “Is it good news? I can’t tell! I mean she looks like Danni when she’s pissed off at me for planning concerts around your schedules and not hers.”
“We’re in Italy chasing down your alleged soulmate,” Steve whispered back, “Do you really want to be talking about Danni right now? Now shut up, because I think he’s figured out what she was saying.”
The two of them tuned back into the incomprehensible argument, just as Jeffrey turned back to them. “So it turns out your information was good. She does know him, and she actually made plans to have dinner with him tonight nearby, at the Galeassi Ristorante.” With that news, Jensen’s face fell. Steve instinctively reached out to hold onto his arm just in case he could no longer stand up properly. “Unfortunately,” Jeffrey continued quickly, “She cannot make it to dinner as she has… a prior engagement.”
The blinding smile that crossed Jensen’s face brought a smile to Jeffrey’s face as well, one that Steve barely had a chance to notice, before Jensen was already dragging him towards the door, and their newly discovered dinner plans.
“Are you staying nearby?” Jeffrey asked, interrupting Jensen’s plan.
“No, no, we actually just got here,” Steve replied. “We don’t really have any plans, apart from dinner at Galeassi Ristorante tonight.”
“Well I know of a place where you could stay, it’s a gorgeous little pensione, not too far from here. I could take you there if you’d like.”
“Steve, let’s go! I don’t want to waste anymore time,” Jensen hissed from where he was still inching towards the door.
“Jensen,” Steve said calmly, turning to his friend, “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten or slept in two days, so just back off.” Turning to Jeffrey, he smiled and said, “That would be amazing.”
Less than twenty minutes later, Jeffrey had brought them to the pensione. He hadn’t lied about the description: it was an older building, with balconies overlooking the view of the city, and a little garden courtyard right outside the entrance. Their room was even big enough for the two of them to fully unpack and still have plenty of space to walk around.
Before he left them, Jeffrey pulled Steve aside and said, “I am going to Milano in the morning, to visit my other store. It’s unavoidable, but I hope you’ll still be here in a couple of days when I return.”
“Well, I don’t- you see- it’s-” Steve stammered, trying to figure out how to explain everything to this man he had only just met.
“I shall look for you here when I return. Until then, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Steve.” With a smile, he was gone, leaving Steve more shell-shocked than he had been when he decided to fly to Italy in the first place.
A few hours later, Jensen and Steve were unpacked, showered, rested, and starving, so they both got ready to go to dinner. Both were wearing dress shirts, and suits, but Jensen was having issues with his shoes. “Did you have to bring the new ones? I haven’t worn these for a reason, you know. I can’t seem to walk in them without slipping. I had to change out of these right before the engagement party, because I nearly knocked over Danni when I slid on the tile floor!”
“Okay you know what? I didn’t exactly have a ton of time in which to pack all of your shit. I also did not have time to go through your wardrobe looking for the perfect ensemble to woo your mystery man soulmate. So either you go shopping while we’re here, or you just deal with what you have.” Steve went back to putting on his shoes, as Jensen continued to give his shoes a wary look.
“If I fall in front of him, I will seriously kill you. I will throw you into the Trevi Fountain, and wish for your death.”
“I think that only works when you throw money in.”
“Fine, then I’ll throw some money in first.”
The Galeassi Ristorante was a very upscale restaurant, but surprisingly, despite calling late for a reservation, they didn’t have any trouble getting a table. They were seated a small little table outside, where they had a perfect view of the cobblestone path leading up to the restaurant and continuing on to other shops and eateries along the road.
“So I think your best bet would be to ask the maître’d about Chad. In order to get in here, he had to have had a reservation, so hopefully, if the maître’d is feeling nice, he’ll point you towards your soulmate.”
“Yeah,” Jensen replied absently, looking around at all of the other tables. “Yeah, that’d probably work.” He settled back into his chair and smoothed out his clothes, seemingly unaware of both the fact that his foot was tapping constantly under the table, and the fact that he was still sitting at the table, instead of speaking to the maître’d.
“Um… Jensen? Is there any particular reason why you’re still sitting here then?”
“Well, I guess I kinda wanted to see if he’d notice me first,” Jensen said sheepishly.
Steve just stared at his best friend in shock, before glaring at him. “Oh for the love of… Jensen,” he said, attempting to keep himself from hitting the other man with something, “We flew halfway around the world so that you could chase down a guy you’ve never met before. He doesn’t know you exist, and even if he did, he might think that we’re on a date, so just do us both a favor and go ask the damn maître’d for help!”
“Okay, okay!” Jensen continued to remain seated. “Steve? Can you go talk to the maître’d? I don’t think I can move…”
Steve barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. “Fine, I’ll go. You just sit there and look pretty, in case your mystery man happens to go looking for you.” He walked away muttering about idiotic friends who were incapable of thinking clearly.
Jensen continued to sit, his mind a whirlwind of what ifs that could all be answered in a few minutes. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long, as Steve was back in a manner of minutes.
“Okay. So he’s sitting inside, at the corner table on the left side of the second door. And if you look over right now, you can see part of his sleeve.” Jensen quickly turned to look in that direction, and sure enough, he saw the dark blue sleeve of a suit jacket move to pick up a glass.
“Oh God. That’s him. That’s really him, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is, Jen. So are you finally going to go and talk to him?”
“Yeah. I’m- Yeah.” Jensen slowly stood up, adjusted his clothes and looked at Steve for support.
“You’ll do fine, just go talk to him. You’ve come this far, Jensen, don’t let him go now.”
Jensen nodded, and headed across the restaurant where his soulmate was waiting for him. He kept his eyes on the table, and the sleeve, which came in and out of view. He was so fixated on that table, that he didn’t notice the waiter carrying the large tray until it was too late. The two men collided, sending dishes and food everywhere. Jensen managed to avoid getting anything on him, but when he looked back at the table, Chad was gone. “Steve!” he yelled, as he ran out the door, “Steve, he’s gone!” He looked around and saw that same flash of blue walking down the cobblestone road away from the restaurant. Without a second thought, and without telling Steve where he was going, Jensen tore down the street, running after him.
Jensen had lost track of how many times he had slipped while running, just like he’d lost track of how many people he had collided with. He had nearly lost track of Chad and his navy blue jacket a few times, but luckily he could still see him. He slammed into another guy before slipping again. This time he barely caught himself from falling, as his shoe practically fell off when the laces came untied. Jensen gave up on the shoe, yanked the other one off and kept on running, oblivious to the voice yelling something behind him.
Steve had finally stopped at a fountain in the middle of some intersection of sorts. He hadn’t seen Jensen at all in the hour that had passed since he took off running after Chad. When he reached the fountain, he finally stopped, and pulled out his phone to call Jensen again. As the phone continued to ring on the other end, Steve suddenly heard a familiar ringtone playing behind him. He turned and found Jensen walking forlornly towards him.
“Jensen, what happened? And where’s your other shoe?” he asked, seeing Jensen clutching one shoe. He pulled Jensen over to the fountain, and made sure he was seated comfortably before sitting himself. “What happened, Jen?”
“I… I lost him. I don’t know where I lost him, but I don’t know where he is. What am I going to do now?”
Steve’s reply was interrupted by the arrival of a tall man speaking in Italian to Jensen. “Signore! La sua scarpa!” he said, breathlessly, holding out Jensen’s missing shoe.
“Well that was really nice of him,” Steve said. Jensen merely nodded in response, but to their surprise, the other man grinned.
“Oh you’re Americans too! That’s awesome! I’ve been kinda bored out here with no one to really talk to. I mean, my Italian is okay; I can talk myself out of getting arrested if necessary, but I’m not good enough to have an actual conversation with someone, you know?” he rambled, still holding Jensen’s other shoe.
“That’s nice,” Jensen replied. He finally began to put his shoes back on as he asked Steve, “So what are we going to do now? I was thinking we could somehow get a loudspeaker and go through the city calling his name.”
“Actually,” Steve replied, ignoring the other man’s curious look, “I think it’s time we got some professional help.”
“Professional help? Like a private detective? That could work,” Jensen said as he finished tying the laces on his other shoe.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a psychiatrist.”
“Steve, how’s a psychiatrist going to help us find him?”
“No Jen, not like that.”
“I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but could I help at all? Are you looking for someone?”
“Yeah,” Steve replied sarcastically, “I’m sure you’ll be able to help us out a lot. We’re looking for a guy we’ve never even seen before, apart from his dark blue suit jacket. We know he’s here, since we’ve been trying to find him since we landed in Venice a couple days ago. Jensen’s convinced this guy is his soulmate, because he got the name off a ouija board when he was ten or so.” With that, Steve stood up, and pulled Jensen up too. “C’mon, Jen, let’s call it a night. We can try looking again in the morning.”
“Look, why don’t you let me help you? I can make some calls, try some places that you guys wouldn’t check out. Just tell me his name.”
“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Jensen said. “I mean, no offense, but I don’t even know you.”
“Well you don’t know that guy either. Look, just let me help you, just tell me his name. Just his name. I’m not even asking you for your last names or anything. Just tell me the name of the guy you’re looking for.”
Jensen bit his lip as he stared up at the other man, trying to decide whether or not to trust the seemingly young and honest man. “What the hell. It can’t really hurt. His name is Chad Michael Murray.”
The other man took a step back in surprise. “I’m Chad Michael Murray.”
Jensen stared at him, suddenly noticing his dark blue suit jacket, for the first time. “You’re him? Oh God. I need to sit down.”
“Do you believe in Fate?” Jensen asked out of nowhere. After leaving Steve, the two men had wandered down the street aimlessly, simply talking about whatever popped into their minds. They only stopped when Jensen found himself feeling hungry, since he hadn’t bothered finishing his meal before chasing Chad at the restaurant.
The gelateria they were now in front of was like a small scoop of heaven, with the sweetest smelling desserts he had ever tasted. It had taken both of them almost twenty minutes to settle on flavors, and even then they had both ended up getting traditional flavors like straciatella and chocolate.
Chad paused, as he paid for their gelato. “What? Like everything is predetermined and our actions are just the manifestation of something that has always been meant to be? No, not so much.”
“Sorta. I mean, do you believe in Destiny, in soulmates; people we’re destined to be with our whole lives. That instant connection when you know you’ve found your other half.”
“Well… I guess I do then. I mean, I know that I believe in true love, and I’ve always liked the idea that there’s only one person out there who really gets you, so yeah. Yeah, I do believe in destiny.” He smiled at Jensen and handed him his gelato.
Jensen smiled at his response and took the ice cream. “Most people think Fate and Destiny are just crap; things that people created hundreds of years ago to explain the things that they didn’t really understand.” He scooped up some of the gelato and nearly moaned in anticipation, but restrained himself in favor of actually eating the ice cream. The chocolate and cream combined with this moment made everything about this night perfect.
“Well yeah, that might be true to some degree, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t true. Maybe they used the words to describe everything, but that probably means that part of it was right. I believe in that part. I mean, love is real, so maybe there is something greater that’s guiding us, or maybe there’s something that determines who we’re meant to be with. I believe that that’s what could be real.” Chad grinned and began to dig into his gelato.
Jensen tilted his head and watched him devour his gelato. He knew a lot of people who didn’t even believe in love, let alone destiny, but Chad believed in both. Jensen smiled at him and dug into his own gelato again.
“So you’re only here for a few weeks on business, right?”
“Yeah, how did you know that?”
“I’m sort of in the fashion industry, and I’m here to get ideas for the new shoe line we’re coming out with in a couple of months.”
“You’re in fashion? Really?”
“I know, I’m not really the fashionable sort of guy, but I know how to combine comfort with style, at least when applying it to other people,” he explained to Jensen. “For example, I could have told you that while your shoes are the perfect shade and style for models to wear with just about any suit in photo shoots, they aren’t exactly designed for running down cobblestone streets in Italy. How far were you running before you lost your shoe anyway?”
“Well, I was running since I left the Galeassi Ristorante, so quite a while.”
“And you lasted that long without losing a shoe? Damn, I’m officially impressed.”
“That’s nothing. The way you practically inhaled your chocolate gelato? That was impressive. I mean it took me at least fifteen minutes, and I’m no slow eater.”
“What can I say,” he said with a grin, “I have mad skills!”
Jensen laughed and kept walking down the street, finally happy with the way things were turning out. As they continued down the road, laughing, talking, sharing stories about themselves, and completely losing all track of time, he realized that this was the best date that he had ever had. Nothing he had with Danneel could even compare to the few hours that he and Chad had spent together.
“Do you hear that, Jensen?”
“You mean the music? Yeah, it’s nice.”
“It’s beyond nice, it’s nearly perfect. There’s only one thing missing from this scene.”
“Oh yeah? And just what would that be? A random Italian calling us the cutest couple ever and then offering to take a photo of us?”
“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that, but that would work pretty well too!” he replied with a grin, “But actually, the answer I was looking for was ‘dancing.’ I think that’s the only thing really missing from this perfect night. Because we already know that we’re the cutest couple, and we already had some photos taken of us, so I think we can cross that off of the list.”
“Okay… Dancing is missing. What exactly do you expect me to do about that?” Jensen asked in confusion.
The other man just smiled in response, and then held out his hand. Jensen stared at him, and then at the hand, and then back up to his still smiling face. “You have got to be kidding me. I don’t dance. Or, I could, but not here in public, and definitely not in these shoes. I mean, it’s a miracle that I haven’t managed to slip and knock us both over with these evil shoes.”
“C’mon, Jensen, just one dance out here where no one else will see us. Dancing in the moonlight in Italy. It just doesn’t get any better than this, especially given how we managed to meet.” Seeing that he still hadn’t managed to convince Jensen, he pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes as he begged. “Please, Jensen? I just want to dance with you.”
Jensen closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked back down at the hand still stretched out towards him. Without another word, he placed his hand on top, and let himself be pulled into an embrace. As the music continued to play, the two slowly swayed to the music, dancing in the middle of the streets. Jensen realized that he had never felt so comfortable dancing before, always having found it awkward.
But this, dancing in the middle of the street with a man he barely knew, while wearing the worst shoes created by mankind, was just about perfect. It should have felt weird, dancing with someone so much taller than him when Danni and everyone else he had dated were all shorter, but it felt natural. It felt like it was something that was always meant to be. With a smile, he leaned up and kissed the man he had traveled thousands of miles to find.
The kissing had continued as they danced, until they finally had to stop dancing because they were too focused on kissing and kept stepping on one another’s feet. But they kept on kissing, moving towards Chad’s hotel room the entire time. When they finally got there, they just kept kissing and moving until they landed on the bed, laughing as Chad nearly hit his head against the wall in the process. It was only at that moment, when he was lying on the bed looking at Chad, that Jensen remembered just how he had found out about Chad’s trip to Italy.
“Chad, I, I have a confession to make,” Jensen said nervously, trying to keep his mind from drifting away from his confession as Chad continued to kiss along his jaw and neck.
“What is it? There’s nothing that you could possibly say that would change anything,” he replied with a big grin.
“I’m engaged.”
“Except maybe that,” he said, sitting up, away from Jensen. “You’re engaged?”
“Yeah, and she’s a friend of yours. Danneel Harris. That’s how I knew you were here. That was me on the phone.”
“Danneel?!?!?! Oh my God, what have I done? And that was you I spoke to?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, it’s just, I knew I had to meet you, and the wedding plans were rushing forward, and I knew this was my only chance, and I just wanted to tell you the truth, because you deserve to know, and I’m so sorry, but do you think you can forgive me? Because this has been the most amazing night ever, and it’s like I was just born to kiss you, just born to be with you, I love you, and-”
Jensen was cut off with a sudden kiss, and he couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. Now that Chad knew the truth, everything was going to be okay.
“This has been the most amazing night for me too, Jensen. I can’t be mad at you for not telling me that before.” He went back to kissing Jensen, who happily went along with the plan, until he realized that he should probably call Danneel now.
“Wait, I should call Danneel. She needs to know that the wedding’s off. I can’t go through with it. Not now that I’ve met you.” Jensen sat up and leaned over to the phone on the nightstand.
“No, don’t do that right now. Call her in the morning. It’s too late right now,” Chad said, pulling him back away from the phone.
“But it’s the afternoon over there. This would be the perfect time to call her.”
“But wouldn’t she be working? It’s just better to wait to tell her. Trust me,” he said, leaning back over Jensen.
Jensen gave another look at the phone still sitting on the nightstand, ready to make the call to officially change his life forever. One look at Chad and the smile on his face, and he gave up on that plan. The phone call could wait a few hours.
They went back to making out, but it wasn’t long before Chad sighed and said, “There’s something I should tell you too.”
“What?” Jensen whispered back.
“I’m not Chad Michael Murray.”
“What,” Jensen said flatly, not sure whether the other man was joking or not.
“My name is Jared Padalecki, and-”
“Get off of me!” Jensen cried out, shoving Jared off of him. “What the hell were you thinking?!?”
“Well, I just really thought you were good looking, but then after talking and dancing with you, I really like you, and since you were honest with me, I thought I should tell you the truth too, and-”
“Why the hell did you lie to me in the first place!?!?” Jared grabbed his arm as he ran for the door, and tried to explain.
“Would you have gone out with me otherwise? No. You’re hung up on Chad, who you’ve never even met! Ow!” he yelled, as Jensen kicked him in the shins. He ran for the door again and had just gotten it open when Jared grabbed his other arm again.
“Let go of me,” Jensen said tightly.
“Jensen, I just want to be with you. Don’t, don’t leave like this, please. Don’t let one little lie end what we have.”
“One little lie? You lied about who you are! What else did you lie about? And we don’t have anything, because there is no we.” He managed to wrench his arm away, grabbed his jacket, and was gone before he could hear Jared’s response.
“But I want there to be…”
Part 2
Author: pyroblaze18
Pairings: Jared Padalecki/Jensen Ackles, Steve Carlson/Christian Kane, Jensen Ackles/Danneel Harris, Steve Carlson/Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Jensen Ackles/Chad Michael Murray?
Rating: PG
Summary: Jensen has one chance to find his soulmate, and he’s going for it… even if he has to leave his fiancée and head for Italy to find him.
Word Count: 15,750 words overall
Author’s Notes: Many months ago, I signed up for the challenge at abouttwoboys. The story got away from me, so I thought it could become by fic for spn_j2_bigbang. That was not to be, and now it is my fic for the Summer Love Songs challenge at j2au. My song prompt was “I’m Yours,” by Jason Mraz. Based on the film, “Only You.” Betaed by shotofjack, and translations provided by titheniel (and handholding by many of you) - any mistakes remaining are my own.
*~*~*~*~*~*
“C’mon you guys, this is a waste of time. Let’s just go watch a movie or something. There’s always something on tv on a Friday night.” Two sets of eyes turned to glare at him at the same time in shock and horror. The silence lasted until the young girl finally spoke up first.
“No! It’s my turn to choose what we do, and I chose this! Now just hurry up and ask a question, Jensen, so it can be my turn!” Jensen turned to Chris hoping for an ally, but only received a smirk in response.
“You believe in all this mystical crap, Jensen. You can’t tell me you aren’t interested, man,” Chris pointed out. “Plus, everything’s already set up, the lights are off, the candles all lit. We might as well just play along.”
“Okay first of all? I believe in fate, not ouija boards,” Jensen responded. “And Chris, the only reason you’re agreeing to this is because Mac’s first idea of a fun thing to do involved painting your nails and braiding your hair. You know we don’t have to go along with this.”
“What? You mean you’re not going to help me find out whether I am destined to make a lot of money after we graduate from college? Besides, what else would we do, we can’t leave, since we’re babysitting Mackenzie here, and we sure as hell can’t take her anywhere.”
Mackenzie looked at the two boys in frustration. “You guys! It’s not my fault I got the stupid chicken pox over vacation! It’s not like I wanted this,” she whined, “It hurts so much!” Jensen and Chris looked over at her, at the pink splotches of calamine lotion covering bright red spots all over her skin, and the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
Jensen sighed and pulled the board back towards him again. “Fine, Mac. What question do you want me to ask?”
“Who’s the person you’re meant to spend your life with? Who’s your soulmate?”
Jensen sighed as Chris bit back a laugh at the girly question. “Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”
“Yes, and just so that you don’t cheat to get it over with, Chris will move the piece after you ask the question.”
Jensen knew that if his sister hadn’t played the sick card, he never would have agreed to this in the first place, and was therefore stuck playing this twisted little game. “Fine. Oh great spirits, who is my soulmate, the one I am supposed to spend my life with?” Although he acted bored as he spoke, the truth was, he was a little nervous. He didn’t know what was going to turn up, and he just really hoped that this wasn’t going to be the big event that outed him to his sister and friend. And he hoped that she didn’t think he was weird if she did find out, which in his eyes, could be worse than any attempte at gays ex advice from Chris.
As Jensen continued to mentally calm himself down, Chris began calling out letters, which Mac wrote down on a notepad. When he finally stopped, all three of them looked at the paper. There was absolute silence, until Mac whispered, “Isn’t that a boy’s name? Did we do something wrong?”
“A guy, huh? Well that’s pretty kinky, Jensen. You been hiding something from us?” was Chris’s only response.
“What? No! It’s just a stupid game. It’s not like it means anything. Although if it did, it’s not like it’s a big deal or anything, because guys can like other guys.”
“Yes they can. It’s one of the many miracles of life.”
“Shut up.”
“Is it my turn yet?” Mac piped up.
They’d been wandering around the carnival for an hour already, and Steve and Jensen had barely managed to successfully avoid Mackenzie, her friends, and their never-ending quest for more stuffed animals. But they had to admit, wandering around by themselves was starting to get really boring, until they reached the old fortune-teller’s stall right by the ferris wheel.
“Let’s go in,” Steve said, “It’ll give us another place to hide from your sister for a while, and at least I can sit down while I’m in there. Running around and hiding is seriously wearing me out. You realize she has her friends staked out at every major food vendor here? I can’t even get funnel cakes, let alone a soda or sno-cone or anything else of substance.”
Jensen sighed and headed into the fortune teller’s tent, with Steve following closely behind him. Inside, the entire tent was decorated as if it were something out of a movie, with candles lighting the center table that held a decently sized crystal ball. The fortune teller, seemed to have styled herself as a gypsy from a movie too, draping herself in multicolored shawls and numerous necklaces.
The two boys plopped down in front of her. She took one look at them before asking, “It is your destiny that you seek, yes?”
“Well actually,” Steve began, “We don’t really care-”
“We’re here to find out what you can tell us,” Jensen said, cutting off his friend. “But, don’t tell us anything bad okay? Just good stuff. We aren’t really looking for any downers or anything you know?”
“C’mon Jensen, I thought you gave up on all this destiny crap after the ouija board incident that you told me about.”
“So it is your soulmate that you are after? I think I see something. It’s a name. A respectable name. Mark? No. Matthew? No. Michael! The name is Michael. No, that’s not quite it either,” she said, muttering to herself as she stared into the crystal ball rotating her hands around it. “I’m seeing more to the name than this. Wait! I think it’s coming clear now. Murray. Chad Michael Murray is the name.”
Steve turned to look at Jensen in surprise. Jensen was just staring back at the fortune teller in shock, not quite believing what he had just heard.
“Jensen? Wasn’t that the name you got on the ouija board?”
“Yeah.”
“So do you think?”
“Yeah. Holy crap!” Jensen got up to leave, but the fortuneteller quickly grabbed his hand before he could get very far.
“Listen kid, the truth is, you make your own destiny. Don’t wait for it to come to you. Remember that.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure I will.” Jensen tried to leave again but the fortuneteller tightened her grip on his arm.
“Your destiny’s still two bucks, kid.” Jensen quickly tossed her the money before dragging Steve out of the tent.
“What the hell do you make of that?” he asked his friend.
“I have no idea, but I think we’re in trouble,” Steve replied. He pointed to a group of girls a few feet away from them, giggling and carrying on. Jensen turned and saw his sister and her friends approaching them, cornering the two of them between the fortune teller’s tent and the ferris wheel. Just as they were about to be dragged off by the girls, a voice from above yelled, “Bomb’s away!!!”
*SPLASH*
The girls began shrieking and scattering as the water balloons began to soak them. Jensen and Steve looked up at the ferris wheel, and saw Chris throwing the balloons with reckless glee.
“You’re such a friggin’ jerk, Chris!”
“Whatever, man. Saved your asses.”
Twelve Years Later
“So what exactly is destiny?” Chris asked, while idly strumming his guitar.
Jensen barely glanced up at him from where he was working, checking over the song list for the band's new upcoming album. “Are you kidding me? You, the magnificent, all-supreme, master songwriter, are asking me about destiny? You're the one who writes all those sappy ballads, man, not me. Besides, the last time I answered that question, you went and told Joanna about how I believed in soulmates and true love, and she broke up with me right after that. I am not helping you with this.”
“You're no fun! You could at least give me the speech about how like is attracted to like again. I need some inspiration for our next ballad”
“Fine. How about this tidbit? When you meet your soulmate, you're reunited with your other half. You become whole again.”
Chris put down his guitar and turned to Jensen. “And you really believe that?”
“Yeah, I really do,” Jensen said, carefully putting away his work. Ever since he officially assumed most of the business work for Chris and Steve's band, he had gotten pretty good multitasking. Chris was never able to remain quiet if someone else was around, and Jensen secretly believed that his friend liked to have all of his conversations about love when Steve wasn't around to witness them. Either way, between each one of them talking about their other jobs, and Chris and Steve writing songs, it was never really quiet around either of the apartments, especially not Jensen’s.
“Then why are you still with Danni? You can't honestly believe that she's your one and only. You two have absolutely nothing in common! If you honestly believe in true love, don't settle for anything less.”
“I'm not settling. I decided years ago to leave it up to fate. I love being with her, Chris. We'll be happy together. And maybe someday, I'll realize that I've been with my soulmate all along.”
Any further response from Chris was cut off when the door to Jensen's apartment was opened. Steve walked in, carrying his guitar and take-out dinner for the three of them. He dumped the food on the coffee table, laid his guitar on the couch, and leaned down to give Chris a kiss, before waving a hello to Jensen.
“Hey baby, long day?” Chris asked him, as he began to dig through the food to see what he deemed edible.
“Yeah, not a fun day at all,” Steve said, sitting on the couch behind Chris. “I don't think I've gotten enough sleep in months. And don't eat all the food Chris, I'm not eating until Jensen tells us what his big news is.”
“Oh yeah, I've been trying to get him to tell me for the past few hours, but he said he didn't want to have to say it twice. I told he wouldn't have to, that I would tell you for him, but he didn't seem to like that plan all that much.”
“I wonder why. Jensen,” Steve called over his shoulder, “Get over here and tell us your news so that I can eat. I'm starving!”
“Bitch, bitch, bitch!” Jensen whined mockingly, finally coming to sit on the other couch next to the coffee table. “Alright. So, Danneel proposed last night.” He propped his feet up on the table and waited for the news to register.
“WHAT?!?!?!?” Steve nearly fell off of the couch in shock, while Chris slowly eased himself up onto the couch where he could be in shock more comfortably. “She proposed to you? And you're only telling us now?”
“Well it’s not really official yet. She said she wanted to ask me, because she didn’t want to wait until I got the nerve to ask her, since I’m sure you remember how long it took me to ask her out in the first place. Anyway, I told her that I didn’t think we should rush into anything. I mean, I don’t ever want to get divorced, so I just needed some time to think it through. You know, so that I’m one hundred percent sure.”
He looked up and saw his friends’ stunned looks and quickly continued, “I’m just telling you what I told her.” Chris and Steve continued to look somewhat horrified and terrified at the same time. “Oh c’mon you guys, I already told my parents that I’m engaged!”
“Congratulations!” Steve said, getting up to give him a hug.
“Congratulations! Now I really do need to work on writing another love song inspired by life. What do you think, Steve? Should I base it on our epic love story? I’m sure all of our female fans would just love to hear that! I think the best songs come out of experience.”
“Those songs don’t come from experience. They come from someone’s imagination. They’re too perfect to be real.” Chris laughed and dug back into his food, but Jensen looked at Steve in concern. Steve just gave him a sad smile before he turned to the bag of food on the table in front of him.
Steve was greeted with, “This is driving me crazy! I can’t take this shit anymore!” when he arrived at Jensen’s apartment a few weeks later.
“Smiling for the endless number of photographs that Danni’s uncle took was painful. I mean every time he came near she’d remind me, ‘Look happy, Jensen, he’s taking more pictures of us, and we have to look like we’re the perfect couple in love.’ This is worse than that. I must have three hundred goddamned wedding guests to write place cards for, because Danni says it’s more personal if they are handwritten for the reception. And because she wants to have the perfect wedding to end the summer, I have to bribe Mackenzie to help me out later in painting summery designs on each and every one. Do you have any idea how much I’m going to owe my little sister for that?!?!!?”
Steve stared at his stressed out friend in amusement. “Well, that’s what you get for marrying a public relations rep. Her entire career focuses on interpersonal interactions- of course she wants to make a good impression on everyone. And you wanted the summer wedding too, remember? It was the only time Mac could get away from her college for more than a weekend, and Chris and I aren’t touring, and plus this was the only way that you guys could go to Danni’s timeshare in Hawaii for your honeymoon.”
“Yeah, I know, I really do want to have the summer wedding and I get that Danni wants to make a good impression, but it’s not just that. The phone’s been ringing nonstop, because she’s having her phone calls forwarded here while she’s in her meetings today. I’ve been talking to strangers all day, and all of them seem to know way more about me than I ever want to know about them. It’s just weirding me out I guess. I feel like there’s something off, but I just don’t know what it is.”
“You getting cold feet already?” Steve asked in surprise, “Because I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound so freaked out before.”
“It’s not cold feet. I just… I feel like I’m missing something right in front of me.” The phone rang, interrupting their conversation. Jensen sighed, but got up to answer the phone anyway.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Sorry, is this the phone number for Danneel Harris?” the voice on the other end said cautiously.
“Yes it is. I’m her fiancee Jensen. She’s in a meeting all day, and she’s having her calls forwarded to my place.”
“Oh okay, congratulations. I’m a friend of Danni’s from high school. I was actually calling to tell Danni that I can’t make it to the wedding. I’m actually going to be out of the country on business; in fact I’m actually leaving in about an hour, so I had wanted to let her know before I left.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that. Let me just write your name down so I can give her the message.”
“Thanks, my name’s-” His name was too hard to identify with all of the noise from the airport.
“I can hardly hear you. Can you spell it out for me?”
“C-H-A-D-M-I-C-H-A-E-L-M-U-R-R-A-Y.”
“Ok,” Jensen said, “Let me just make sure I got it right.” He looked at the name and promptly dropped the phone in shock.
“Jensen, what’s wrong?” Steve asked hurriedly when he heard the phone crash.
“Hello?” said the person on the other line, “Hello?”
Jensen quickly grabbed the phone again. “Chad Michael Murray?” he said, nodding at Steve’s startled recognition.
“Yeah, that’s me.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m leaving for Venice. And they’ve actually just started boarding for my flight, so I have to go. Say hi to Danni, and I’m sorry I can’t make it to your wedding.” Before Jensen could get another word in, Chad hung up, leaving Jensen staring at the phone.
“He hung up. He hung up!” Jensen said somewhat frantically.
“Jen calm down. It’s okay, if he called you once, he’ll call you back.”
“No. No, I’m not waiting for that.” Jensen quickly grabbed his phone, wallet, keys and a jacket on his way to the door.
“Jensen, where are you going?”
“The airport. Call a cab!” Jensen said, running out the door.
Steve dashed to the other side of the apartment and leaned out of the window. When Jensen reappeared outside, he yelled out to him, “Jen, it’s just a coincidence!”
“You don’t understand,” the other man shouted back loudly enough for the whole block to hear, “It’s not a coincidence, it’s FATE!”
Jensen jumped into a cab and he was off, chasing his destiny.
The trip to the airport seemed like the longest car ride of his life. Jensen was out the door before the cab had even stopped, tossing money at the driver in his haste. He checked the departure screen and saw the only plane heading to Venice was an American Airlines flight that stopped in New York. He ran over to the ticket counter to buy a seat on the plane, but was told that the flight was about to leave.
“I need to be on that plane. You don’t understand! My life depends on getting on that plane!”
“I’m sorry sir, but the plane has already begun to taxi down the runway. It’s too late.”
Jensen just stared at the man bleakly, before whispering brokenly, “The man I was supposed to marry is on that plane…” He took a deep breath, looked back up at the man helping him, and asked, “When’s the next flight to Venice?”
As soon as he had his ticket, Jensen called Steve to pack his bags for him. “Steve, if I don’t get on that flight I’m going to regret it. Not just today, but tomorrow, and for the rest of my life. I have to do this. So please just bring me my stuff. What? Oh! My passport’s in the top drawer of my desk. Pack some formal clothes, casual clothes, and warm weather stuff. Just hurry, Steve!”
Steve got there soon after, with not only Jensen’s suitcase and carry-on, but his own bags as well. “I’m coming with you. There’s no way I’m letting you run around another country searching for your mystery man alone. That’s just a disaster waiting to happen.”
“You’re okay just leaving with me like this? I mean what did Chris say when you told him?” Steve stopped and just gave him a look.
“Do you really think I was going to tell him the truth? He’d run over here, hit us over the head and drag us back home. I told Chris I was visiting my parents for a few days. What did Danneel say when you told her?”
“Good point. She told me to have fun at the music industry conference. So, um, let’s go to Italy!”
Nearly thirty-six hours later, Jensen and Steve were on the road, somewhere between Venice and their new destination of Rome. After finding out that not only had they missed Chad in Venice, but that with the current exchange rate a train, bus, or taxi ride would have cost a small fortune, they rented a car and headed for Rome where Chad had gone. They were exhausted from driving, so they took a break to eat lunch on a hill along the way.
“I’m scared. I’m scared I’m losing him, and I’m never going to find out if he’s the one,” Jensen said as he stared out into the countryside.
“Even if he is the one, there’s never really any guarantee that you’ll be together forever.” Steve said morosely, taking a gulp out of the wine bottle they had picked up.
“What’s wrong, Steve? You’ve been down for weeks, but Chris seems fine, so I’m a bit confused. What’s going on between the two of you?”
“I didn’t tell him I was visiting my parents. I told him I was leaving him,” Steve whispered. “I think he’s having an affair.”
“What?” Jensen reached over and wrapped Steve in a hug. “Did you see him with someone?”
“No, I didn’t. I just know. Things have been very different between us lately. He always comes home late, and just hops in the shower before crashing for the night.”
“He’s probably just working late. You know how exhausting it is being on tour, acting is just as draining. I don’t think he’d cheat on you. Chris loves you.” Steve leaned over and put his head on Jensen’s lap. “I remember when I realized that Chris was in love with you. It was his senior year of high school, and the head cheerleader came and asked him to go to prom with her. He told her he already had a date, grabbed your hand and walked away. That’s when I knew.” he said, as he soothingly ran his fingers through Steve’s hair.
“Well that was a long time ago. Things change.”
“Not his feelings for you. I know he loves you. He always will.”
Danneel had been extremely busy since Jensen had left for his conference. Without him to go home to, she had been working extra long hours and throwing herself into the wedding plans. So when Chris stopped by her apartment, it came as a great surprise. “Hey Danneel, do you know where Jensen is?”
“Yeah, he’s at a conference in New York, why?”
“Do you know if Steve’s with him?”
“I don’t think so, but he didn’t really say anything about it. Why, what’s wrong?”
“Steve left me. He left a note saying he’s leaving, and to pick up the dry cleaning, but there was no explanation. I mean, he’s been acting weird for a while now, but I just don’t understand how he could do this.”
“I hate to ask you this, but do you think he’s cheating on you?”
“No way! Steve would never cheat on me. There has to be some other reason.”
“Well have you cheated on him?”
“No! How can you even ask me that?”
“So who are we looking for?”
“Someone named Alona. She works at a clothing store that our cab driver apparently knows of. According to the guy in Venice, she knows Chad. I just hope she speaks some English, or else we’re screwed.”
“I just hope we’re on the right track, because I just want to get a hotel room and sleep for a few hours. Or days, really. I’m so tired that I can’t really think of anything else anymore.”
The two men got dropped off at a high end clothing store for men and women, and went in to try and find Alona. When they went in, they were greeted by a man who spoke both Italian and English, who pointed them towards the men’s department where she was working. At the cologne counter, a young woman greeted them, and when asked if she too could speak English, she nodded.
“Hi,” Steve said, “We’re looking for someone who works here. Her name is Alona Tal, and we think she may be able to help us with something.”
“I am Alona,” the salesperson said with a smile. “How can I help you?”
“Hi,” Jensen said quickly, “We’re looking for someone, and we’ve been told that you know him.” At her confused look, he continued, “His name is Chad Michael Murray.”
Alona blinked and looked from one man to the other. “Chad. Michael. Murray.” When they both nodded, she started to speak rapidly in Italian, startling the two Americans. Steve pulled out an Italian-English dictionary and attempted to follow what she was saying, but after coming to the conclusion that she probably wasn’t talking about pigs in shoes, which was his translation, he quickly admitted defeat. Meanwhile Jensen was trying to get her to calm down by repeating that they had no idea what she was saying.
Just then, a handsome gentleman came towards them, speaking in Italian to Alona. She stopped talking briefly, and the man turned to Jensen and Steve. “Hello, may I be of assistance?” he asked.
Twin looks of relief crossed their faces as they said, “Yes.”
He laughed at them and said, “So you’re American then too. My name is Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I’m the owner of this store. What seems to be the problem here?”
“Well,” said Steve, “I’m Steve, and this is Jensen. We’re looking for someone named Chad Michael Murray, and we were told that Alona knows him, and judging by her sudden reaction, I’d have to say we were correct in that assumption.”
Jeffrey turned to Alona and began to talk to her in Italian. Jensen elbowed Steve in the side and whispered, “Is it good news? I can’t tell! I mean she looks like Danni when she’s pissed off at me for planning concerts around your schedules and not hers.”
“We’re in Italy chasing down your alleged soulmate,” Steve whispered back, “Do you really want to be talking about Danni right now? Now shut up, because I think he’s figured out what she was saying.”
The two of them tuned back into the incomprehensible argument, just as Jeffrey turned back to them. “So it turns out your information was good. She does know him, and she actually made plans to have dinner with him tonight nearby, at the Galeassi Ristorante.” With that news, Jensen’s face fell. Steve instinctively reached out to hold onto his arm just in case he could no longer stand up properly. “Unfortunately,” Jeffrey continued quickly, “She cannot make it to dinner as she has… a prior engagement.”
The blinding smile that crossed Jensen’s face brought a smile to Jeffrey’s face as well, one that Steve barely had a chance to notice, before Jensen was already dragging him towards the door, and their newly discovered dinner plans.
“Are you staying nearby?” Jeffrey asked, interrupting Jensen’s plan.
“No, no, we actually just got here,” Steve replied. “We don’t really have any plans, apart from dinner at Galeassi Ristorante tonight.”
“Well I know of a place where you could stay, it’s a gorgeous little pensione, not too far from here. I could take you there if you’d like.”
“Steve, let’s go! I don’t want to waste anymore time,” Jensen hissed from where he was still inching towards the door.
“Jensen,” Steve said calmly, turning to his friend, “I’m tired, I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten or slept in two days, so just back off.” Turning to Jeffrey, he smiled and said, “That would be amazing.”
Less than twenty minutes later, Jeffrey had brought them to the pensione. He hadn’t lied about the description: it was an older building, with balconies overlooking the view of the city, and a little garden courtyard right outside the entrance. Their room was even big enough for the two of them to fully unpack and still have plenty of space to walk around.
Before he left them, Jeffrey pulled Steve aside and said, “I am going to Milano in the morning, to visit my other store. It’s unavoidable, but I hope you’ll still be here in a couple of days when I return.”
“Well, I don’t- you see- it’s-” Steve stammered, trying to figure out how to explain everything to this man he had only just met.
“I shall look for you here when I return. Until then, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Steve.” With a smile, he was gone, leaving Steve more shell-shocked than he had been when he decided to fly to Italy in the first place.
A few hours later, Jensen and Steve were unpacked, showered, rested, and starving, so they both got ready to go to dinner. Both were wearing dress shirts, and suits, but Jensen was having issues with his shoes. “Did you have to bring the new ones? I haven’t worn these for a reason, you know. I can’t seem to walk in them without slipping. I had to change out of these right before the engagement party, because I nearly knocked over Danni when I slid on the tile floor!”
“Okay you know what? I didn’t exactly have a ton of time in which to pack all of your shit. I also did not have time to go through your wardrobe looking for the perfect ensemble to woo your mystery man soulmate. So either you go shopping while we’re here, or you just deal with what you have.” Steve went back to putting on his shoes, as Jensen continued to give his shoes a wary look.
“If I fall in front of him, I will seriously kill you. I will throw you into the Trevi Fountain, and wish for your death.”
“I think that only works when you throw money in.”
“Fine, then I’ll throw some money in first.”
The Galeassi Ristorante was a very upscale restaurant, but surprisingly, despite calling late for a reservation, they didn’t have any trouble getting a table. They were seated a small little table outside, where they had a perfect view of the cobblestone path leading up to the restaurant and continuing on to other shops and eateries along the road.
“So I think your best bet would be to ask the maître’d about Chad. In order to get in here, he had to have had a reservation, so hopefully, if the maître’d is feeling nice, he’ll point you towards your soulmate.”
“Yeah,” Jensen replied absently, looking around at all of the other tables. “Yeah, that’d probably work.” He settled back into his chair and smoothed out his clothes, seemingly unaware of both the fact that his foot was tapping constantly under the table, and the fact that he was still sitting at the table, instead of speaking to the maître’d.
“Um… Jensen? Is there any particular reason why you’re still sitting here then?”
“Well, I guess I kinda wanted to see if he’d notice me first,” Jensen said sheepishly.
Steve just stared at his best friend in shock, before glaring at him. “Oh for the love of… Jensen,” he said, attempting to keep himself from hitting the other man with something, “We flew halfway around the world so that you could chase down a guy you’ve never met before. He doesn’t know you exist, and even if he did, he might think that we’re on a date, so just do us both a favor and go ask the damn maître’d for help!”
“Okay, okay!” Jensen continued to remain seated. “Steve? Can you go talk to the maître’d? I don’t think I can move…”
Steve barely resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. “Fine, I’ll go. You just sit there and look pretty, in case your mystery man happens to go looking for you.” He walked away muttering about idiotic friends who were incapable of thinking clearly.
Jensen continued to sit, his mind a whirlwind of what ifs that could all be answered in a few minutes. Luckily, he didn’t have to wait very long, as Steve was back in a manner of minutes.
“Okay. So he’s sitting inside, at the corner table on the left side of the second door. And if you look over right now, you can see part of his sleeve.” Jensen quickly turned to look in that direction, and sure enough, he saw the dark blue sleeve of a suit jacket move to pick up a glass.
“Oh God. That’s him. That’s really him, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it is, Jen. So are you finally going to go and talk to him?”
“Yeah. I’m- Yeah.” Jensen slowly stood up, adjusted his clothes and looked at Steve for support.
“You’ll do fine, just go talk to him. You’ve come this far, Jensen, don’t let him go now.”
Jensen nodded, and headed across the restaurant where his soulmate was waiting for him. He kept his eyes on the table, and the sleeve, which came in and out of view. He was so fixated on that table, that he didn’t notice the waiter carrying the large tray until it was too late. The two men collided, sending dishes and food everywhere. Jensen managed to avoid getting anything on him, but when he looked back at the table, Chad was gone. “Steve!” he yelled, as he ran out the door, “Steve, he’s gone!” He looked around and saw that same flash of blue walking down the cobblestone road away from the restaurant. Without a second thought, and without telling Steve where he was going, Jensen tore down the street, running after him.
Jensen had lost track of how many times he had slipped while running, just like he’d lost track of how many people he had collided with. He had nearly lost track of Chad and his navy blue jacket a few times, but luckily he could still see him. He slammed into another guy before slipping again. This time he barely caught himself from falling, as his shoe practically fell off when the laces came untied. Jensen gave up on the shoe, yanked the other one off and kept on running, oblivious to the voice yelling something behind him.
Steve had finally stopped at a fountain in the middle of some intersection of sorts. He hadn’t seen Jensen at all in the hour that had passed since he took off running after Chad. When he reached the fountain, he finally stopped, and pulled out his phone to call Jensen again. As the phone continued to ring on the other end, Steve suddenly heard a familiar ringtone playing behind him. He turned and found Jensen walking forlornly towards him.
“Jensen, what happened? And where’s your other shoe?” he asked, seeing Jensen clutching one shoe. He pulled Jensen over to the fountain, and made sure he was seated comfortably before sitting himself. “What happened, Jen?”
“I… I lost him. I don’t know where I lost him, but I don’t know where he is. What am I going to do now?”
Steve’s reply was interrupted by the arrival of a tall man speaking in Italian to Jensen. “Signore! La sua scarpa!” he said, breathlessly, holding out Jensen’s missing shoe.
“Well that was really nice of him,” Steve said. Jensen merely nodded in response, but to their surprise, the other man grinned.
“Oh you’re Americans too! That’s awesome! I’ve been kinda bored out here with no one to really talk to. I mean, my Italian is okay; I can talk myself out of getting arrested if necessary, but I’m not good enough to have an actual conversation with someone, you know?” he rambled, still holding Jensen’s other shoe.
“That’s nice,” Jensen replied. He finally began to put his shoes back on as he asked Steve, “So what are we going to do now? I was thinking we could somehow get a loudspeaker and go through the city calling his name.”
“Actually,” Steve replied, ignoring the other man’s curious look, “I think it’s time we got some professional help.”
“Professional help? Like a private detective? That could work,” Jensen said as he finished tying the laces on his other shoe.
“I was thinking more along the lines of a psychiatrist.”
“Steve, how’s a psychiatrist going to help us find him?”
“No Jen, not like that.”
“I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but could I help at all? Are you looking for someone?”
“Yeah,” Steve replied sarcastically, “I’m sure you’ll be able to help us out a lot. We’re looking for a guy we’ve never even seen before, apart from his dark blue suit jacket. We know he’s here, since we’ve been trying to find him since we landed in Venice a couple days ago. Jensen’s convinced this guy is his soulmate, because he got the name off a ouija board when he was ten or so.” With that, Steve stood up, and pulled Jensen up too. “C’mon, Jen, let’s call it a night. We can try looking again in the morning.”
“Look, why don’t you let me help you? I can make some calls, try some places that you guys wouldn’t check out. Just tell me his name.”
“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Jensen said. “I mean, no offense, but I don’t even know you.”
“Well you don’t know that guy either. Look, just let me help you, just tell me his name. Just his name. I’m not even asking you for your last names or anything. Just tell me the name of the guy you’re looking for.”
Jensen bit his lip as he stared up at the other man, trying to decide whether or not to trust the seemingly young and honest man. “What the hell. It can’t really hurt. His name is Chad Michael Murray.”
The other man took a step back in surprise. “I’m Chad Michael Murray.”
Jensen stared at him, suddenly noticing his dark blue suit jacket, for the first time. “You’re him? Oh God. I need to sit down.”
“Do you believe in Fate?” Jensen asked out of nowhere. After leaving Steve, the two men had wandered down the street aimlessly, simply talking about whatever popped into their minds. They only stopped when Jensen found himself feeling hungry, since he hadn’t bothered finishing his meal before chasing Chad at the restaurant.
The gelateria they were now in front of was like a small scoop of heaven, with the sweetest smelling desserts he had ever tasted. It had taken both of them almost twenty minutes to settle on flavors, and even then they had both ended up getting traditional flavors like straciatella and chocolate.
Chad paused, as he paid for their gelato. “What? Like everything is predetermined and our actions are just the manifestation of something that has always been meant to be? No, not so much.”
“Sorta. I mean, do you believe in Destiny, in soulmates; people we’re destined to be with our whole lives. That instant connection when you know you’ve found your other half.”
“Well… I guess I do then. I mean, I know that I believe in true love, and I’ve always liked the idea that there’s only one person out there who really gets you, so yeah. Yeah, I do believe in destiny.” He smiled at Jensen and handed him his gelato.
Jensen smiled at his response and took the ice cream. “Most people think Fate and Destiny are just crap; things that people created hundreds of years ago to explain the things that they didn’t really understand.” He scooped up some of the gelato and nearly moaned in anticipation, but restrained himself in favor of actually eating the ice cream. The chocolate and cream combined with this moment made everything about this night perfect.
“Well yeah, that might be true to some degree, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t true. Maybe they used the words to describe everything, but that probably means that part of it was right. I believe in that part. I mean, love is real, so maybe there is something greater that’s guiding us, or maybe there’s something that determines who we’re meant to be with. I believe that that’s what could be real.” Chad grinned and began to dig into his gelato.
Jensen tilted his head and watched him devour his gelato. He knew a lot of people who didn’t even believe in love, let alone destiny, but Chad believed in both. Jensen smiled at him and dug into his own gelato again.
“So you’re only here for a few weeks on business, right?”
“Yeah, how did you know that?”
“I’m sort of in the fashion industry, and I’m here to get ideas for the new shoe line we’re coming out with in a couple of months.”
“You’re in fashion? Really?”
“I know, I’m not really the fashionable sort of guy, but I know how to combine comfort with style, at least when applying it to other people,” he explained to Jensen. “For example, I could have told you that while your shoes are the perfect shade and style for models to wear with just about any suit in photo shoots, they aren’t exactly designed for running down cobblestone streets in Italy. How far were you running before you lost your shoe anyway?”
“Well, I was running since I left the Galeassi Ristorante, so quite a while.”
“And you lasted that long without losing a shoe? Damn, I’m officially impressed.”
“That’s nothing. The way you practically inhaled your chocolate gelato? That was impressive. I mean it took me at least fifteen minutes, and I’m no slow eater.”
“What can I say,” he said with a grin, “I have mad skills!”
Jensen laughed and kept walking down the street, finally happy with the way things were turning out. As they continued down the road, laughing, talking, sharing stories about themselves, and completely losing all track of time, he realized that this was the best date that he had ever had. Nothing he had with Danneel could even compare to the few hours that he and Chad had spent together.
“Do you hear that, Jensen?”
“You mean the music? Yeah, it’s nice.”
“It’s beyond nice, it’s nearly perfect. There’s only one thing missing from this scene.”
“Oh yeah? And just what would that be? A random Italian calling us the cutest couple ever and then offering to take a photo of us?”
“Huh. I hadn’t thought of that, but that would work pretty well too!” he replied with a grin, “But actually, the answer I was looking for was ‘dancing.’ I think that’s the only thing really missing from this perfect night. Because we already know that we’re the cutest couple, and we already had some photos taken of us, so I think we can cross that off of the list.”
“Okay… Dancing is missing. What exactly do you expect me to do about that?” Jensen asked in confusion.
The other man just smiled in response, and then held out his hand. Jensen stared at him, and then at the hand, and then back up to his still smiling face. “You have got to be kidding me. I don’t dance. Or, I could, but not here in public, and definitely not in these shoes. I mean, it’s a miracle that I haven’t managed to slip and knock us both over with these evil shoes.”
“C’mon, Jensen, just one dance out here where no one else will see us. Dancing in the moonlight in Italy. It just doesn’t get any better than this, especially given how we managed to meet.” Seeing that he still hadn’t managed to convince Jensen, he pouted and gave him puppy dog eyes as he begged. “Please, Jensen? I just want to dance with you.”
Jensen closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked back down at the hand still stretched out towards him. Without another word, he placed his hand on top, and let himself be pulled into an embrace. As the music continued to play, the two slowly swayed to the music, dancing in the middle of the streets. Jensen realized that he had never felt so comfortable dancing before, always having found it awkward.
But this, dancing in the middle of the street with a man he barely knew, while wearing the worst shoes created by mankind, was just about perfect. It should have felt weird, dancing with someone so much taller than him when Danni and everyone else he had dated were all shorter, but it felt natural. It felt like it was something that was always meant to be. With a smile, he leaned up and kissed the man he had traveled thousands of miles to find.
The kissing had continued as they danced, until they finally had to stop dancing because they were too focused on kissing and kept stepping on one another’s feet. But they kept on kissing, moving towards Chad’s hotel room the entire time. When they finally got there, they just kept kissing and moving until they landed on the bed, laughing as Chad nearly hit his head against the wall in the process. It was only at that moment, when he was lying on the bed looking at Chad, that Jensen remembered just how he had found out about Chad’s trip to Italy.
“Chad, I, I have a confession to make,” Jensen said nervously, trying to keep his mind from drifting away from his confession as Chad continued to kiss along his jaw and neck.
“What is it? There’s nothing that you could possibly say that would change anything,” he replied with a big grin.
“I’m engaged.”
“Except maybe that,” he said, sitting up, away from Jensen. “You’re engaged?”
“Yeah, and she’s a friend of yours. Danneel Harris. That’s how I knew you were here. That was me on the phone.”
“Danneel?!?!?! Oh my God, what have I done? And that was you I spoke to?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry, it’s just, I knew I had to meet you, and the wedding plans were rushing forward, and I knew this was my only chance, and I just wanted to tell you the truth, because you deserve to know, and I’m so sorry, but do you think you can forgive me? Because this has been the most amazing night ever, and it’s like I was just born to kiss you, just born to be with you, I love you, and-”
Jensen was cut off with a sudden kiss, and he couldn’t help but smile at his reaction. Now that Chad knew the truth, everything was going to be okay.
“This has been the most amazing night for me too, Jensen. I can’t be mad at you for not telling me that before.” He went back to kissing Jensen, who happily went along with the plan, until he realized that he should probably call Danneel now.
“Wait, I should call Danneel. She needs to know that the wedding’s off. I can’t go through with it. Not now that I’ve met you.” Jensen sat up and leaned over to the phone on the nightstand.
“No, don’t do that right now. Call her in the morning. It’s too late right now,” Chad said, pulling him back away from the phone.
“But it’s the afternoon over there. This would be the perfect time to call her.”
“But wouldn’t she be working? It’s just better to wait to tell her. Trust me,” he said, leaning back over Jensen.
Jensen gave another look at the phone still sitting on the nightstand, ready to make the call to officially change his life forever. One look at Chad and the smile on his face, and he gave up on that plan. The phone call could wait a few hours.
They went back to making out, but it wasn’t long before Chad sighed and said, “There’s something I should tell you too.”
“What?” Jensen whispered back.
“I’m not Chad Michael Murray.”
“What,” Jensen said flatly, not sure whether the other man was joking or not.
“My name is Jared Padalecki, and-”
“Get off of me!” Jensen cried out, shoving Jared off of him. “What the hell were you thinking?!?”
“Well, I just really thought you were good looking, but then after talking and dancing with you, I really like you, and since you were honest with me, I thought I should tell you the truth too, and-”
“Why the hell did you lie to me in the first place!?!?” Jared grabbed his arm as he ran for the door, and tried to explain.
“Would you have gone out with me otherwise? No. You’re hung up on Chad, who you’ve never even met! Ow!” he yelled, as Jensen kicked him in the shins. He ran for the door again and had just gotten it open when Jared grabbed his other arm again.
“Let go of me,” Jensen said tightly.
“Jensen, I just want to be with you. Don’t, don’t leave like this, please. Don’t let one little lie end what we have.”
“One little lie? You lied about who you are! What else did you lie about? And we don’t have anything, because there is no we.” He managed to wrench his arm away, grabbed his jacket, and was gone before he could hear Jared’s response.
“But I want there to be…”
Part 2